[vcrpro3]

I had asked this before but my best friend became ill last summer and subsequently passed, and i put this project by the wayside. I am looking for assistance from someone in getting mediaportal up and running fully and correctly on my main pc. Either someone local (Glendale, Az) or willing to teamviewer in. I am using Windows 8.1 Enterprise (it was free) on this pc so WMC is not an option. I have got DVD's and music to play, but not Blu Rays, TV or FM radio to work. Right now i am using at the computer, but once everything is running correctly, i want to use this pc as the server for two HTPC's i am working on. T.I.A.

 

[vcrpro3]

Right now, i am trying to use MP in a 'single seat' configuration (had to use the as a server option to get the TV service option in the menu). Could that be the problem? The two tuners in the PC work with Arcsoft's tv program and are seem and set up in MP tv-server setup, but will not operate within MP......

 

[Andrew Hornfeck]

You're using MP Final Release V 1.11 from their site, right? I've been using MP for YEARS, so a clean install hasn't been something I do. I worry when you say Single Seat as I thought they did away with that language, but as long as you have MP-TV-Server and MP-Config icons you should have it all. You will HAVE to get the tuners working... and SCAN for channels once. Then you have to assign channels TO the individual tuner cards. THEN you can do the preview of a channel at the TV-Channels tab in TV-Server. Does it work to there? Did you install the LAV filters? Configured them? Have you read... does MP support Win 8 ?? I'm still running Win 7 HP which has WMC and filters you once had to load manually (is why I'm asking does MP support Win 8).


Do you know the TV tuners work? Have you been able to tune local stations with ANY software?

 

[vcrpro3]

Both cards work and i get reception with Arcsoft TV tuner software. Both tuners are seen by MP in the TV-Server area and successfully receive channels(at least lists that the tuners have found them). I can preview 1 or 2 channels then i get a message; "preview failed AllCardsBusy"....Going to pull one of the cards later and see what happens...

 

[vcrpro3]

Tried with a single tv tuner in place, Hauppage HVR-1850. Still the same thing. In TV-Server config, sees tuner. Will scan and list tv channels. When i enter main program and select tv, will not turn on tv. I get to the page with a menu on left side of page that has 'TV On' at the top and other menu selectioc, cannot get tv to turn 'on'....

 

[vcrpro3]

It is obvious that i am doing something wrong...What it is, i don't know. As i have admitted on other forums, i am a hardware whore... I have tried 5 different tuner cards unsuccessfully and my attempts to to get MediaPortal tv and radio functional have spanned 3 different iterations of this computer (3 different motherboards, same CPU and memory)....what oh what am i not getting right?????

 

[vcrpro3]

I give up...no chance of having a media player on this computer. Joined MediaPortal forums and tried to post about my particular set of problems. They have a menu similar to this forum, but when i try to enter anything, i get an error message saying in effect i have to post in the text box...problem? no text box offered. The hell with this...uninstalling MedialPortal and saying goodbye..................

 

[GreySkies]

I think I used to get this issue as well using Media Portal. I had a heck of a time getting it working reliably. I used to get a "No Free Card" error constantly.

Here's what eventually got it to work for me. Go into the main program, select TV, then, before turning TV on, select channels, then click on a channel you know you can receive and isn't encrypted. Then turn the TV on.

Selecting an encrypted channel gives the "No Free Card" error, and if I leave the program on that non-working channel, recordings fail as well. I have to select a working channel, then exit the program.

BTW, I only go into the main program to schedule recordings. I use another program to edit commercials and compress, then I dump them to a file server.

 

[vcrpro3]

In my case, there were no channels listed in the area to select channels even though in the TV-Server setup, all local channels (I am using OTA-ATSC) available were listed. Could never get tv to turn on......I get the 'no free card' message when i try to use radio....

I think I used to get this issue as well using Media Portal. I had a heck of a time getting it working reliably. I used to get a "No Free Card" error constantly.

Here's what eventually got it to work for me. Go into the main program, select TV, then, before turning TV on, select channels, then click on a channel you know you can receive and isn't encrypted. Then turn the TV on.

Selecting an encrypted channel gives the "No Free Card" error, and if I leave the program on that non-working channel, recordings fail as well. I have to select a working channel, then exit the program.

BTW, I only go into the main program to schedule recordings. I use another program to edit commercials and compress, then I dump them to a file server.

 

[GreySkies]

In my case, there were no channels listed in the area to select channels even though in the TV-Server setup, all local channels (I am using OTA-ATSC) available were listed. Could never get tv to turn on......I get the 'no free card' message when i try to use radio....

Ahh-- bummer. I'll take a look at my config tonight and see if I can come up with something more helpful.

 

[Dark_Slayer]

I know you aren't looking for this advice, but if you wanted to try Kodi there is a skin in the standard repo called "Titan Mediabrowser" by Marcelveldt. It is a port of the Titan skin in mediabrowser, and he customized it to support a mediabrowser or plex backend. However it also supports a native kodi library

In any case, it's a popular skin because of the Titan look

 

[vcrpro3]

I might try KODI(XBMC) again, but that was one i could not get anything to work....tried PLEX also.....

I know you aren't looking for this advice, but if you wanted to try Kodi there is a skin in the standard repo called "Titan Mediabrowser" by Marcelveldt. It is a port of the Titan skin in mediabrowser, and he customized it to support a mediabrowser or plex backend. However it also supports a native kodi library

In any case, it's a popular skin because of the Titan look

 

[Andrew Hornfeck]

You have to MAP the channels to a tuner card. You have to CHECK the channels you want to (later) show up in the TV menu. You also have to assign a folder for the LiveTV to record to, as well as a folder for each tuner to record to... all this before you try opening the MediaPortal application. These are settings in the TV-Server and MP-Config apps. I can go through and get mine running in just a few minutes (since I've been using it for years). It's not always intuitive -- have you read the setup guide?


http://wiki.team-mediaportal.com/1_MEDIAPORTAL_1/13_Quick_Setup


http://wiki.team-mediaportal.com/1_...ration/TV-Server_Configuration/03_TV_Channels


http://wiki.team-mediaportal.com/1_...Server_Configuration/03_TV_Channels/2_Mapping


http://wiki.team-mediaportal.com/1_...guration/TV-Server_Configuration/07_Recording

 

[vcrpro3]

Ok, reinstalled MP...Same situation as before and i have gone over every setting several times! This can only tell me 2 things;A-MP does not like W8.1 Enterprise, B-MP does not like AMD 8 core CPU on a 990FX chipset mobo(ASUS Crosshair V Formula Z..had tried it before with same cpu and memory set on a Gigabyte 990FXA-UD5 mobo). I have an offer from a forum member to teamviewer in to check my install. I will be very happy if he can solve whatever the problem or situation is, but have the feeling working with it is going to frustrate him too......

 

[vcrpro3]

WaHoo!!!! Thanks to help from Gonzo90017 logging in to my computer via teamviewer, he got MediaPortal up and running and taught me a lot on some of the complexities(wish some of the configuration was more automatic though....)!!!!! I still have a bit to go with some of the channel and guide settings, but i am getting there. I am a bit disappointed though that neither of my tuner cards has a FM radio tuner, both are analog/digital TV. I wonder what problem i might encounter if i swap one out for one that does FM radio tuning also, but that is down the line. Also in the future is setting up of 2 HD Homerun Dual tuners that i recently aquirred...Finally, a working media center on Windows 8.1 enterprise!!!!!

 

[Andrew Hornfeck]

Do tell... share what 'issues' Gonzo90017 was facing. Were they Win 8.1 enterprise, codec related, or MP settings/config? Was it 1, or 2 or like 20 things? I find getting the EPG especially tedious. I'd subscribed to one before but switched to mc2xml years back for free.

 

[vcrpro3]

I did not have the Guide properly set up...had something other than mc2xml ticked, but the main problems, i believe, was that there were remnants of all my previous attempts to install(and subsequent un and reinstalls of) MediaPortal corrupting the program, he found those in some hidden files. To be on the safe side, an older version, instead of the most current was installed.

Do tell... share what 'issues' Gonzo90017 was facing. Were they Win 8.1 enterprise, codec related, or MP settings/config? Was it 1, or 2 or like 20 things? I find getting the EPG especially tedious. I'd subscribed to one before but switched to mc2xml years back for free.

 

[gonzo90017]

Do tell... share what 'issues' Gonzo90017 was facing. Were they Win 8.1 enterprise, codec related, or MP settings/config? Was it 1, or 2 or like 20 things? I find getting the EPG especially tedious. I'd subscribed to one before but switched to mc2xml years back for free.

The only way to do clean reinstall of MediaPortal is by deleting the Team Mediaportal folder located in C:\ProgramData (this folder is hidden so you must enable viewing of hidden files and folders). If not, some files are left over from previous installs even after doing a Full Mediaportal Cleanup uninstall.

Setting up the TV Guide is probably the most difficult part of the install. I too am using mc2xml for my guide data. Wish they would setup some kind of wizard like you have with WMC. This is one thing that i'm sure turns a lot of newcomers off to using Mediaportal and NPVR.

 

[Andrew Hornfeck]

Ahhh.... so it wasn't a Win 8.1 Enterprise issue at all! In fact, it was the remnant MP folders playing havoc with the "new" MP application. So I'm guessing after you removed the Team MediaPortal folder and did a fresh install that things got more normal?


Seems the OP got shot in the foot by his lingering install over the years. GLAD you had the means to help him! As a long term MP user it bothers me when folks get frustrated and turn away... it's a fine multi-function media front-end!


THANK YOU on all our behalves

 

[vcrpro3]

I fought to get this working because from what i had seen, MediaPortal was, to me a better media center than XMBC/KODI and PLEX......Not being completely saavy with this was driving me crazy!!! Thank you all for the help!!!

Ahhh.... so it wasn't a Win 8.1 Enterprise issue at all! In fact, it was the remnant MP folders playing havoc with the "new" MP application. So I'm guessing after you removed the Team MediaPortal folder and did a fresh install that things got more normal?


Seems the OP got shot in the foot by his lingering install over the years. GLAD you had the means to help him! As a long term MP user it bothers me when folks get frustrated and turn away... it's a fine multi-function media front-end!


THANK YOU on all our behalves